The Internet, and particularly the Worldwide Web, has caused a virtual information explosion. An average user, making use of a conventional web browser, now has available to him a mass of information that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. This includes information available from professional and commercial sources, individuals, Web sites and social networking sites. With the wealth of information that is available over a computer network, technology, implemented as “search engines”, attempt to accurately identify specific information sought by users. These search engines, implemented through software programs and computer information systems, are designed specifically to assist users in finding information. Typically, to execute a query, the user submits information or search criteria into one or more fields, and the search engine attempts to identify information that relates to the search criteria entered.
While existing search engines may be adequate for some applications, they are often limited in their ability to uncover useful information. One particular limitation that hinders user efforts to conduct successful searches is that the search engines are sensitive to the terminology of a user in a field of search. Thus, the accuracy and quality of the information retrieved is dependent upon the user's language in the search criteria because there may be useful information available that does not conform to the common terminology. This is particularly true for unstructured searches where a user enters search criterion in a single field, and the search criterion is used to identify information relevant to documents as a whole. In structured searches, a user enters search criteria into predefined fields of the search engine, sometimes with limited ranges of valid search criterion, and then the search engine attempts to identify matching information (e.g., records) that satisfy the user's search criteria. Structured search engines may improve the accuracy and breadth of a search because they focus the search in predefined fields, but these systems still have limitations in their attempt to identify matches desired by the user. The present disclosure sets forth methods, systems, and computer readable medium to improve the accuracy and breadth of information retrieved for users in response to structured search queries.